Why We Need To Explore Space

Space: a vast, dark wilderness, a wasteland that is of no value to explore, and will cost in excess of $18.6 billion dollars in 2010. That money could be spent on worthy causes like health care, education and social development projects. It is an often repeated argument, and it ignores the fundamental reasons behind space exploration, reasons that transcend squabbles about budget deficits and national debts. With manned missions to the moon and to Mars being discussed, we are nearing a point where mankind will travel farther than ever before. We are set to discover things that were unknown, perhaps fundamentally changing our understanding of Earth, science and even ourselves. Here are six of the arguments that explain why we need to continue space exploration.

Bigger than budgets

There have been numerous criticisms of NASA as a fiduciary black hole. However, simply examining this through a financial prism ignores the fundamental purpose of NASA, and any other space exploration. It is not about being financially lucrative as virtually every nationalized industry, anywhere in the world, spends more money than it makes. Space exploration is about knowledge, about expanding our horizons and answering questions that we haven’t even thought of asking yet. The pursuit of knowledge is a noble cause, and anything that might help us to know more is a valuable exercise and should be cherished. This same pioneering spirit has seen major developments in medicine, food production and myriad other technologies.

We can’t appreciate its true impact just yet

When Christopher Columbus wanted to sail west to reach the Indies, he trawled Europe for patronage. At the time, it was considered a fool’s errand. Eventually people realized that Columbus had transformed the course of human history. Space exploration is similar, inasmuch as some people think it's futile. It may only be in the future that people appreciate what a huge impact it's had on society. Who knows what incredible discoveries are just around the corner, what revolutionary new technologies may appear as a result of space exploration?

To maintain tradition

While physical exploration of space has only existed for around 50 years or so, it has become firmly entrenched as part of human tradition. It taps into a long line of observers and discoverers, such as Copernicus, Keppler and Hubble. It's a way of not only bringing people together, but of holding on to a link with our past and a time when merely gazing at the stars was a great adventure. For centuries, men have yearned to know what secrets the universe holds. Now we have the opportunity to go and find out; an opportunity we should grasp with both hands.

We can’t stay on earth forever

Eventually, our sun will die, swallowing the earth as it turns into a giant red giant. With that in mind, humans cannot remain on earth forever. Space exploration gives us an opportunity to discover new, habitable worlds, which would allow our species to survive beyond the lifespan of this planet. It may seem a long way off, but this need may be expedited by population growth and limited food supplies. Being able to send half the human race to a different planet could make all the difference.

It unites humanity

When Neil Armstrong took those first steps on the moon, it was an epoch-defining moment that captured the imagination like almost nothing before or since. It was yet another example of how far human ingenuity can extend. It brought people together in a way that only great moments like this can. These historic moments are rare, and should be cherished by anyone who is privileged enough to witness them. For a fleeting moment, humanity was united in a moment of wonder and awe, amazed by the great things we are capable of. These shared moments are so precious, they should never be dismissed.

Men need to explore

To borrow a cliché, men have always sought to go boldly where no man has gone before. In the past, this may have manifested itself in the first bands of humans to cross the Pacific Ocean to discover Polynesia. The voyages of discovery, by intrepid explorers like Columbus and Magellan, were based on this spirit of adventure and thirst for knowledge. The first men to reach the North Pole, or to scale Everest, displayed a similar need to discover. We are no different now to how we were then. We have the technology to broaden our horizons, and looking into the infinite darkness of the universe is an obvious way to quench this thirst for knowledge. The need to explore to discover and to understand is an innate facet of mankind — it's a major part of what makes us human. To deny this is to deny our humanity.